Pars per Round by Handicap
A scratch golfer pars almost two holes in three. A 15 handicap pars about one in four, and a 25 handicap one in seven. Here are pars per round from 0 to 25, next to the birdies, bogeys and doubles that make up the rest of the card.
A scratch golfer makes 11.52 pars per round, which is par on 64% of holes. A 10 handicap makes 7.2 pars (40% of holes), and a 15 handicap makes 4.86, so par on barely one hole in four.
Between scratch and 15, a golfer loses about 6.7 pars a round, more than two for every five shots of handicap. Above 15 the line flattens out: a 25 still makes 2.52 pars, but by then double bogey is the most common score on the card.
Pars per round by handicap: the table
| Handicap | Pars per round | Share of holes | Birdies | Bogeys | Doubles or worse | Most common score | Typical score | SG total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scratch (0) | 11.52 | 64% | 2.34 | 3.87 | 0.27 | Par | 74–76 | -3.2 |
| 5 | 9.18 | 51% | 1.26 | 6.12 | 1.44 | Par | 79–81 | -6.2 |
| 10 | 7.20 | 40% | 0.72 | 7.20 | 2.88 | Par and bogey | 84–87 | -9.2 |
| 15 | 4.86 | 27% | 0.36 | 8.10 | 4.68 | Bogey | 90–92 | -12.2 |
| 20 | 3.60 | 20% | 0.36 | 7.38 | 6.66 | Bogey | 95–98 | -15.2 |
| 25 | 2.52 | 14% | 0.18 | 6.12 | 9.18 | Double or worse | 100–103 | -18.4 |
| 30 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 105–108 | -21.5 |
The birdie, bogey and double columns are Shot Scope data, published by Golf Monthly as Average Number Of Birdies Per Round (18 Holes) By Handicap. The pars column is what’s left of 18 holes once those three are taken out. Golf Monthly prints the scratch and 10 handicap par figures directly in Scratch Vs 10 Handicap: How The Stats Compare: 11.52 and 7.2, the same as our subtraction. Typical scores come from our average score by handicap table, and total strokes gained (per round, against a PGA Tour baseline) from the Broadie-based benchmarks for every handicap. Shot Scope stops at 25, so the 30 row is blank.
What the source does and doesn’t tell you
Shot Scope’s table has no eagle column, so any eagles end up in the pars figure. For amateurs that’s a rounding error. Every number is a multiple of 0.18, which points to Shot Scope rounding to a whole percentage of holes, so read each figure as a typical level rather than an exact count. Neither article says how many rounds sit behind each row.
What’s normal: reading the pars curve
Par is the most common score up to a 10 handicap. A scratch golfer makes three pars for every bogey. A 5 still makes half a round of pars. At 10, pars and bogeys tie at 7.2 each, and that’s the level where par stops being the default result on a hole.
From 0 to 15, pars go fast. Each step of five handicap shots costs between 1.98 and 2.34 pars a round. A 15 makes fewer than half as many pars as a scratch player.
Above 15, pars level off and doubles take over. From 15 to 25 a golfer loses another 2.34 pars, about the same as the single step from 0 to 5. The doubles column grows by 4.5 over the same range. A 25 handicap makes more doubles (9.18) than pars and bogeys combined (8.64).
Where the lost pars go
Pars are worth zero against par, so losing one doesn’t cost a stroke by itself. The cost depends on what it turns into. Golf Monthly’s scratch vs 10 comparison spells out the swap: a 10 handicap makes 4.32 fewer pars and 1.62 fewer birdies than a scratch player, and picks up 3.33 more bogeys and 2.61 more doubles or worse.
Run the same comparison from scratch to 15 and you get 6.66 fewer pars, 1.98 fewer birdies, 4.23 more bogeys and 4.41 more doubles. At the low end, more of the lost pars turn into bogeys than doubles. Higher up it flips. Going from 15 to 10, the extra 2.34 pars come mostly out of the doubles column, which shrinks by 1.8. Our birdies and double bogeys by handicap post splits the scoring gap stroke by stroke.
Pars and birdies against greens hit
Add pars and birdies together and you get holes played in par or better. Set that against greens in regulation from the stat profile below:
| Handicap | Par or better per round | Greens hit per round | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scratch (0) | 13.86 | 11.2 | 2.7 |
| 5 | 10.44 | 8.3 | 2.2 |
| 10 | 7.92 | 6.3 | 1.6 |
| 15 | 5.22 | 4.1 | 1.1 |
| 20 | 3.96 | 2.9 | 1.1 |
| 25 | 2.70 | 1.6 | 1.1 |
Greens hit is the GIR percentage times 18. The two columns come from different Shot Scope samples, so treat the difference as a rough net figure: holes saved after a missed green, minus greens that turned into three-putt bogeys. Every level makes more pars and birdies than it hits greens. The gap is about one hole from 15 upward and grows to close to three at scratch. A scratch golfer saves close to three holes a round without a green. A 15 saves about one.
Pars and the full stat profile by handicap
Pars are a result. These are the stats behind them.
| Handicap | Score | GIR | Fairways | Putts | Up and down | Penalties | SG off the tee | SG approach | SG around the green | SG putting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scratch (0) | 74–76 | 62% | 50% | 30.5 | 54% | 0.56 | -0.8 | -1.5 | -0.5 | -0.4 |
| 5 | 79–81 | 46% | 51% | 31.5 | 47% | 0.91 | -1.4 | -3.0 | -1.0 | -0.8 |
| 10 | 84–87 | 35% | 50% | 32.5 | 39% | 1.62 | -2.0 | -4.5 | -1.5 | -1.2 |
| 15 | 90–92 | 23% | 47% | 33.5 | 34% | 2.45 | -2.7 | -6.0 | -2.0 | -1.5 |
| 20 | 95–98 | 16% | 45% | 34.5 | 31% | 3.03 | -3.4 | -7.5 | -2.5 | -1.8 |
| 25 | 100–103 | 9% | n/a | 35.5 | 25% | 4.67 | -4.2 | -9.0 | -3.0 | -2.2 |
| 30 | 105–108 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | -5.0 | -10.5 | -3.5 | -2.5 |
Sources by column:
- GIR: our greens in regulation by handicap table, from Shot Scope’s amateur data.
- Fairways hit: Shot Scope’s handicap averages for the 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 handicap.
- Putts: our putting average by handicap, which stops at 25.
- Up and down: inside 50 yards, from our scrambling percentage by handicap table.
- Penalties: our penalty strokes per round by handicap table.
- Strokes gained: Mark Broadie’s research, per round against a PGA Tour baseline.
Fairways barely move from 0 to 20, between 45% and 51%. Pars drop by more than half over the same range, so driving accuracy isn’t what separates the rows. GIR and up-and-down percentage both fall in step with pars, and approach is the largest strokes gained loss at every level. To see what a missed green costs from a specific spot, put the before and after positions into the strokes gained calculator.
How to read your own pars against your handicap
Count pars from your last few rounds and divide by the number of rounds. Then find your row and compare the other columns too:
- Pars at or above your row, score at your row: your steady holes are fine. The strokes are in doubles, so check that column.
- Pars below your row, doubles at your row: you’re making bogey where your level usually makes par. Compare your GIR and up-and-down numbers with the stat profile to see which one is short.
- Pars matching a lower handicap’s row: you already par like a lower handicap. Your handicap is probably being held up by a few big numbers each round.
For one level in full detail, see what a 5 handicap, 10 handicap, 15 handicap, 20 handicap, 25 handicap or 30 handicap shoots.
Your pars against your handicap
The table shows a typical golfer at each level, not you. Two 15 handicaps can both average 91, one with seven pars and seven doubles or worse, the other with one par, fifteen bogeys and two doubles. They need to work on different things.
Log 3 rounds and golfity shows your numbers against your handicap.
